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Isaac
Isaac is a Kaylon Science and Engineering Officer on board the [[USS Orville|USS Orville]].Ed Mercer: "And finally, Isaac, our science and engineering officer, hailing from Kaylon 1." Episode 1: Old Wounds Unlike most serving on the Orville, Isaac is not an official member of the Planetary Union. He instead works as a representative on behalf of the Kaylon to help foster better relations between his people and the Union. Isaac is portrayed by Mark Jackson. Early life Isaac was assembled within a factory on Kaylon 1 similar to most of his species.Episode 4: If the Stars Should Appear Prior to 2419, the Union admiralty offered a posting to any Kaylon willing to take it. Isaac was chosen by his people to serve on the Orville in "an effort initiate relations between Kaylon and the Union," to study human behavior and serve as a representative for his planet.Episode 1: Old Wounds Career The precise date that Isaac first joined the Orville is unclear, although it was probably September, 2419.Admiral Halsey does not state that the spot of Science Officer is vacant when talking to Ed in September, implying that Isaac was already aboard the ship and served under the previous captain. Episode 1: Old Wounds Captain Ed Mercer meets Isaac during introductions with senior staff and notes that his species is said to be "legendarily racist;" Isaac explains that Kaylons simply view biological life forms as inferior. He adds that the Captain will find him to be "his most capable officer" aboard the ship. Isaac demonstrates his intelligence and usefulness to the crew several weeks later. After Ed and Commander Kelly Grayson are kidnapped and placed within a Calivon Zoo, Isaac is able track pulse readings from a Calivon buoy to find where the pair were sent. He accompanies acting captain Alara Kitan to the Calivon home world, suggesting he should come along with her to barter as the Calivon respect Kaylon more than the Planetary Union species. Isaac tries fruitlessly to negotiate Ed and Kelly's release with the zoo administrator himself, but does convince the Administrator to speak with Alara, who then negotiates their release.Episode 2: Command Performance Isaac boasts unparalleled technological expertise on the Orville. For example, about January 2419, Isaac hacks the Master Feed of Sargus 4 in an effort to rescue Navigator John LaMarr. He easily floods the chat room with 30 million fabricated comments in support of John, which turns the tide of public opinion in favor of the young Navigator and saves him from Social Correction.Episode 7: Majority Rule A later moment of Isaac's usefulness comes in March, 2420, when Isaac helps Alara again by programming her a simulation in order to overcome any fears she may subconsciously harbor, and adds situations where she would be exposed to common phobias. Alara then invokes Directive 38, which prevents the crew from interfering.Episode 10: Firestorm As both a Science and Engineering Officer, Isaac is frequently employed to lead joint investigative task forces. Around late March or April, 2420 Ed orders Isaac and John to investigate damage to the ship from an unmapped, mysterious spatial anomaly. In Lieutenant Yaphit's quarters, Isaac's comscanner begins to pick up traces of a quantum wake, which leads to several dead plants. After poring through data collected from the task force, Isaac and John realize they discovered an aperture into two-dimensional space.Episode 11: New Dimensions Exploring the bioship: Isaac's first major mission Around late October or November, 2419, Isaac receives his first major away assignment. The Orville happens across a strange, enormous bioship on the fringe of charted space, which Isaac scans as made of an unknown alloy and nearly the width of Manhattan Island, New York City. As the only senior crewmember with reflexes fast enough to properly dock the shuttle at the bioship's airlock, Isaac joins the investigating team. Once inside, his comscanner picks up millions of inhabitants, a breathable atmosphere, and an impenetrable hull that renders communications with the outside world impossible. Captain Mercer decides it would be best for them to split up; Isaac, Ed, and Doctor Claire Finn explore together. The trio are soon shot at by a man from a cabin. Isaac stuns him with a PM-44. Inside the cabin are the man's wife and son, Tomilin. Isaac realizes that the inhabitants are unaware of a world beyond the ship's interior ecosystem, but Tomilin speculates that the away team is from "the Beyond" and instructs them to follow. Tomilin introduces them to the Reformers, dissidents who believe there is more to the universe then what they can see. Paired with the Reformers, the away team rescues Command Grayson, who was kidnapped by the ship's theocratic leader Hamelac. The way team then guides the Reformers to the Bridge of their own bioship. A 2,000-year-old recording of Captain Jahavus Dorahl tells them about the history of the bioship. Meant to take his people to distant worlds, but that their engines were damaged by an ion storm, which left them stuck adrift in space. Moon crash landing Perhaps Isaac's greatest career accomplishment on the Orville, and a moment of profound personal development, comes in late January or early February 2420. While the Orville's navigational array is down during an upgrade, Doctor Finn goes on vacation with her sons, Ty and Marcus, and Isaac pilots their shuttle. (Other pilots, such as Helmsman Gordon Malloy, are busy upgrading the array.) During the trip, a fight between Ty and Marcus accidentally sends the shuttle through an unmapped Spatial fold. The fold takes them into an unknown region of space; the fold's intense gravity had fractured the hull and damaged their communication array. Isaac crash-lands the shuttle on the surface a nearby habitable moon just to survive. The shuttle breaks apart on the Moon's surface and splits in two. Isaac is left with Marcus and Ty while Claire is marooned by herself. Isaac tries to call Doctor Finn with his comscanner but she doesn't answer (she was knocked unconscious). He sets Marcus's dislocated knee in place, then sets off in search of Claire, leaving the boys with a PM-44. Isaac finds the shuttle but Claire is missing. He returns to Ty and Marcus just in time to save them from a cannibalistic inhabitant. He repairs the shuttle's communications but discovers their supply of dysonium is depleted. A source of raw dysonium is detected on a mountain nearby, and the three set off in the morning. A group of cannibals waylays them, but Isaac quickly dispatches them with his gun. Continuing their journey, Ty falls into a local river and ingests a water-borne toxin called polloxus. ''The next day, Isaac and Marcus are horrified to see Ty's health has decreased significantly overnight. Fortunately, they find their needed deposit of dysonium. Doctor Finn calls Isaac by comscanner; she had been captured by a local named Drogen. They rendezvous at the crash site and the dysonium restores partial power. Isaac realizes the Dysonium was not as concentrated as he had believed and was only able to send a faint distress signal. It could take the Orville weeks, assuming its scanners picked anything up at all. That night, a large cadre of natives attack. Isaac and Marcus hold them off until the Orville arrives and rescues its lost crewmembers. The adventure solidified Isaac's relationship with Claire and the children, and proved Isaac's bold claim true, that he is a most capable officer.From Episode 1: Old Wounds Mission to the multiphasic planet In late spring of 2420, Isaac formed a crucial part in the cultural development of a species from a planet outside the universe. While working on the bridge, Isaac's station's scanners detects traces of an unusual spatial anomaly near a star's photosphere. A analysis shuttle is sent consisting of Kelly, Gordon, and Isaac to scan the anomaly up close. Suddenly, a planet appears out of seemingly nowhere. The shuttle makes a turbulent emergency landing on its surface. Isaac and Gordon repair minor damage to the shuttle; Kelly scouts the area and finds an injured local girl, and heals her with her dermoscanner. When damage is repaired, the three return to the Orville. The planet disappears. Isaac and John LaMarr, now Chief Engineer, propose the planet is locked in a multi-phasic orbit. Calculations of the planet's orbit suggest it will return in approximately 11 days. However, when the planet returns, 700 years had passed for the planet. The natives have developed a Bronze age society ruled by worship of Kelly, whom they deified as an omniscient healing goddess. Attempts to correct the people through conversation fail, so Isaac voluntarily lives among them for the next cycle, 700 years for him, to change society. Isaac is escorted back in the next cycle by Baleth and Fadolin onto The Orville. They explain that Isaac's presence was unneeded: it is the evolution of all societies to lose religion as technology progresses. Personality Similar to most Kaylon, Isaac firmly holds the belief that biological lifeforms are mentally and physically inferior to himself. Though this mentality on the surface might appear to be the result of irrational bigotry, Isaac seems to exhibit more simply chauvinistic attitudes and has little problem conversing with organic lifeforms. Isaac is curious about the cultures of biological lifeforms. Intangible experiences such as humor and love are difficult for him to fully understand or rationalize. He does appear to have the strongest connections with Alara Kitan and Claire Finn, who are the most tolerant towards his ignorance on biological species. Relationship with Claire Isaac and Claire originally had a strained relationship. The Doctor had no patience for Isaac's casual superiority, which she finds abrasive and hauty; Isaac consistently fails to understand why she cannot better manage her children. Isaac comes from a planet where when a "program" misperforms, it is terminated. He even offers to vaporize Claire's children to the same effect, but she sternly demands him not to. She resents parenting tips from a "taking hub cap," and admits that she harbors prejudice against artificial life-forms "who think they're better than everyone else."Episode 8: Into the Fold After surviving the cannibals of the habitable moon, their relationship warms, largely thanks to Isaac protecting her sons. Isaac even displays empathy to Claire before their rescue when Ty's health worsened by gently holding Claire's hand. Relationship with Alara Alara and Isaac are very friendly and helpful towards one another, eating dinner together and sitting close to each other during crew based activities such as Karaoke. Isaac and her often work together to solve problems that arise during missions, such as when Kitan as acting Captain needed to step foot on the Calivon Homeworld in order to barter for the release of Captain Mercer and Commander Grayson. Isaac, knowing the Calivon would look down on her for being Xelayan, accompanied Alara to the planet since he was aware they would view a Kaylon with less contempt. Alara is tolerant to the fact Isaac has a hard time understanding culture and basic social etiquette. When he asked why she wanted to have a cat on the Bridge she explains to him the bond that arises between biological lifeforms and animals. During a discussion about her dating life, Isaac boldly offers to have sex with Alara in order to understand why organic species are so fascinated with dating. Even though she's noticeably taken back by the request, Kitan responds that she is working on herself right now and not looking for a relationship. Relationship with the crew Due to his largely alien nature, Isaac is apathetic to the majority of his crew mates. This should not be interpreted as him not caring about the ship's prime objective. Isaac has shown extreme loyalty and dedication to maintaining The Orville during all of its missions. On the Habitable Moon, he worked to protect and help Ty and Marcus from the violent natives and other dangers even before harboring a special connection to them. Isaac also willingly sacrificed himself to be left on the Multiphasic Planet's 700 year cycle when he knew none of the other crew were long lived enough to survive it. Perhaps due to his technological nature, he infrequently displays any negative emotions towards his crew mates either. When Gordon Malloy tried to embarrass Isaac by putting Mr. Potato Head pieces on him, he showed no anger towards the Lieutenant and simply removed them while explaining the reason he wasn't able to detect them attached to his person sooner. Isaac however, displayed assertiveness on the Habitable Moon multiple times to Ty and Marcus when they continued to argue with one another. Though this may be justifiable as he was simply mimicking Doctor Finn's response to similar situations. Understanding Humor Gordon Malloy tries to educate Isaac on humor after he fails to understand the appeal of the television series ''Seinfeld. He plays a practical joke on Isaac by taping Mr. Potato Head attributes to his head. Unaware of that, Isaac walks onto the Bridge and sits down at his station, while everyone else stares in confusion. When told of the joke, Isaac explains that his glowing "eyes" exist merely for aesthetic purposes that he "sees" by using an array of sensors located elsewhere, hence he failed to detect the attributes, as they were not classified a threat. Gordon explains what he did to Isaac was an example of a practical joke. That he would need to do one back to him to further enhance the humor and enjoyment of the activity. Isaac, believing he understands the concept, amputates Malloy's left leg in his sleep and hides it in Pria Lavesque's quarters. Malloy however doesn't find this amusing and claims that Isaac went too far with his follow up joke. After Pria Lavesque's device is discovered in Engineering, Chief Engineer Newton manages to get through the housing with an old-fashioned diamond-tipped drill. Isaac attempts to use technopathy in order to study the data within it. However, the device explodes shortly after & ends up severely damaging his body. While Malloy sits in the Sick Bay waiting for his leg to regrow, Isaac is brought in alongside him. Gordon confesses to his unconscious form that cutting off his leg was quite possibly, the best practical joke ever. Shortly after, Isaac announces to the crew that he managed to transfer his consciousness into the Orville's computer, where he is able to successfully override the device's control. After the repairs are complete, Isaac is downloaded back into his own body. Isaac's pursuit of humor is followed up in New Dimensions when Malloy suggests that the Bridge should get a cat. Isaac asks how a cat on board would improve their morale. Alara explains that animals are fun for have around and express unconditional love, Gordon reaffirms this and explains that humans bond with cats by petting them, that Isaac should try it sometime in order to better understand biological beings. Isaac later gets up and begins to gently stroke Gordon's arm, asking if they're bonding. Production .]]While Fox first introduced Isaac in their May 2017 trailer, it was Mark Jackson who revealed the character and the Kaylon species to the general public in July."SDCC 2017: The Orville - Peter Macon, Mark Jackson, Chad L Coleman". Whedonopolis Video. July 26, 2017. He elaborated that Isaac is sent as an ambassador and observer to the Planetary Union, and that his species communicates as a "hive mind." The costume of Isaac was designed with the look of early science fiction androids and cybernetic beings in mind."Mark Jackson Interview | AfterBuzz TV's Spotlight On". AfterBuzz TV. Sept. 13, 2017. It took Howard Berger, the make-up department head for Season 1, 42 drafts before landing upon Isaac's look."PLANETARY UNION NETWORK: EPISODE 20". Planetary Union Network. June 17, 2018. Isaac's helmet consists of two plates that snap together. Jackson wears a microphone to hear better and reads his lines aloud while performing and the audio is manipulated and improved during editing."Mark Jackson Interview | AfterBuzz TV's Spotlight On". AfterBuzz TV. Sept. 13, 2017. The helmet's face plate is one-way transparent, allowing the actor to see."THE ORVILLE PODCAST EPISODE 5 - THE MARK JACKSON INTERVIEW". The Orville Podcast. Oct. 6, 2017. "It's not perfect. It's a bit blurry like if I wore glasses," Jackson describes."The Orville Fan Podcast w/ Mark Jackson (09)". Planetary Union Network. Nov. 12, 2017. The suit was originally prohibitively hot, so Berger installed a small fan after filming the pilot to keep him cool."THE ORVILLE PODCAST EPISODE 5 - THE MARK JACKSON INTERVIEW". The Orville Podcast. Oct. 6, 2017. Isaac's origins remained obscure at the close of Season 1 even to Jackson and the rest of the cast,"Mark Jackson Interview | AfterBuzz TV's Spotlight On". AfterBuzz TV. Sept. 13, 2017. but by November, 2017, creator Seth MacFarlane promised that his background would appear in greater detail in Season 2: "We will learn more about Isaac's people. There's a whole story that's already been written that examines the origins of Isaac's people;" and later, "Next season, we are going to deal with Isaac a little bit, and we have a very clear idea of what we want him to be.""Brannon Braga & The Orville Cast Full interview 2017 Panel NYC convention". NYC ComicCon. Nov. 20, 2017. Isaac's suit takes approximately 20 minutes to put on or remove. Jackson describes the experience as being put into an ecosystem, and says he feels powerful and well-protected wearing it."Mark Jackson #TheOrville on #FOX interviewed at 35th #PaleyFestLA TV Festival in Hollywood". Red Carpet Report. March 18, 2018. An unexpected perk is that the suit keeps Jackson warm in the cold studio set."The Orville Fan Podcast w/ Mark Jackson (09)". Planetary Union Network. Nov. 12, 2017. Jackson has confirmed that minute visual adjustments have been made to the costume for Season 2, adding cryptically "but nothing too radical... yet.""Mark Jackson #TheOrville on #FOX interviewed at 35th #PaleyFestLA TV Festival in Hollywood". Red Carpet Report. March 18, 2018. Further, he revealed that he is slowly changing Isaac's accent to resemble natural Human speech, the product of contact with his bridgemates."Mark Jackson on playing the character Isaac in "The Orville"." AfterBuzz TV. March 17, 2018. Isaac armor 2.jpg Isaac Armor.jpg Above, early concept sketches of Isaac's armor, as drawn by the show's wardrobe designer Joseph Porro and illustrator Luca Nemolato. Trivia *The name "Isaac" is likely a reference to the Human writer Isaac Asimov who coined the Three Laws of Robotics. *Isaac draws many parallels to Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation. *He is the only known crew member of The Orville to have no official rank. Due to not belonging to the Planetary Union and instead being an observer on behalf of the Kaylon. *According to Mark Jackson, Isaac's voice is an amalgamation between multiple different accents that are spoken within the English language in order to better be understood by all people who watch the series. Appearances *''Episode 1: Old Wounds'' *''Episode 2: Command Performance'' *''Episode 3: About a Girl'' *''Episode 4: If the Stars Should Appear'' *''Episode 5: Pria'' *''Episode 6: Krill'' *''Episode 7: Majority Rule'' *''Episode 8: Into the Fold'' *''Episode 9: Cupid's Dagger'' *''Episode 10: Firestorm'' *''Episode 11: New Dimensions'' *''Episode 12: Mad Idolatry'' References Category:Orville Crew